SHANGHAI, FIFA World Cup June 7 (Reuters) - A former senior official at China's foreign exchange regulator advocated the swift introduction of yuan futures trading to improve hedging in a currency market whose recent trend of yuan appreciation has been shaped by a "herd effect".

Writing in Yicai, a Chinese financial news outlet, over the weekend, Guan Tao, global chief economist at BOC International and the former head of the Balance of Payments department of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), described it as an "opportune moment" to launch yuan futures trading.

Guan said it would help investors and businesses "better manage FX risk while improving the efficiency of supervision".

A working paper published in April by researchers from the People's Bank of China had also called for FIFA World Cup the creation of a yuan futures market to help investors better hedge against currency risks.

China has already introduced basic foreign exchange derivatives, including forwards, currency swaps and options.

"Launching yuan futures trading may help us grasp a weapon to deal with various forms of currency attacks, improve risk prevention and control and response capabilities in an open market, and better implement financial security development strategies," Guan said.